Brisbane casino on Packer radar

James Packer
has met with Queensland premier Campbell Newman to express his interest in the multi-billion revamp of Brisbane’s riverside precinct.

The move has prompted speculation that the billionaire’s Crown Ltd may emerge as a competitor to
Echo Entertainment
’s Treasury casino in the city.

A day after taking his fight with Echo chairman John Story - one of Brisbane’s best known corporate identities - to Echo’s shareholders, Mr Packer revealed he was not solely focused on his rival’s flagship casino in Sydney.

“Of course Echo’s Queensland assets are on Crown’s radar," Mr Packer told The Australian Financial Review. “They represent a major part of Echo’s business, and Echo’s portfolio. I was fortunate enough to have had a meeting in Brisbane with Premier Newman recently."

Mr Packer said he was “incredibly impressed" with the premier’s plans for the city and Queensland.

The contact between Crown and the Queensland government comes at a sensitive time for Echo, the holder of the exclusive casino licence in Brisbane, which is fending off a bid by Mr Packer to both remove its chairman and insert former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett on to the board.

The new government has rejected a plan submitted by Echo to develop a 36-storey, five star hotel with additional gambling facilities on the Old State Library site.

An Echo spokesman confirmed the plans - part of an overall $625 million expansion program in Queensland - had been knocked back by the government on heritage concerns.

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The Sydney-based company has made its intention clear to re-submit plans to develop the hotel and casino at an alternative site.

Mr Packer discussions in Brisbane are reminiscent of his proposal to build a $1 billion, six star hotel and casino in Sydney’s Barangaroo district despite Echo also holding the monopoly casino licence in the city.

The Crown chairman has also begun negotiations with the West Australian government over a new five-star hotel and entertainment complex, at a cost of between $500 million and $1 billion, to expand his Burswood complex in Perth.

Announcing the plan to revitalise Brisbane’s riverside this week, Mr Newman was reported as saying he was open to talks about casino proposals in the CBD.

“If people want to come and talk to me about casinos they’re open to do so, but what I want is a new five star hotel for the Brisbane CBD," Mr Newman said.